Disability advocates demand full RPwD list in Census 2027 questionnaire

India's disability advocacy network has raised objections to the limited nine-category framework slated for the upcoming Census 2027, arguing it fails to reflect the 21 disabilities listed in the RPwD Act, 2016. The coalition, represented by the National Platform for Rights of Disabled and signed by over four hundred entities, contends that the narrow classification will leave enumerators uncertain and generate misleading data that excludes many groups from official records.

They specifically point out the omission of conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disabilities, dwarfism, leprosy-cured persons and multiple-disability categories like deaf-blindness. Additionally, they criticize the bundling of distinct blood disorders—thalassemia, haemophilia and sickle-cell disease—into a single “blood disorder” label. The statement calls for a questionnaire that records each of the 21 recognized disabilities separately. The census’s second phase started on August 17 with online self-enumeration in Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with in-person counting scheduled for September.